Explore the
2026 Craft + Design Canberra Festival Program
Dissent and the Griffins’ Canberra | Canberra Modern Coach Tour
14 November 2026 | City
Canberra Modern’s tour will take you to significant sights around Canberra. Experience the Griffin’s internationally significant plan from an act of creative dissent, through to implementation as a city embodying democratic ideals. Visit locations in the central national area from elevated vantage points to hidden sights, including the historic Cork Oak plantation, General Bridges grave, the Incinerator and much more.
Weaving Waters
5 July – 13 December 2026 | Tuggeranong Arts Centre
In dissent against the decline of the Murray Cod, Tuggeranong Arts Centre invites you to join collaborative community weaving sessions, using natural fibre and recycled materials to complete a large scale textile sculpture. Hear First Nations stories and learn about the environmental conservation efforts surrounding this threatened and culturally significant species.
Robert Foster 10 Year Memorial Exhibition
7 – 15 November 2026 | Grainger Gallery
In celebration of a maker whose vision continues to resonate as an enduring act of creative dissent, Robert Foster 10 Year Memorial Exhibition brings together 10 of Robert's most significant original works alongside new collaborative pieces by 10 artists whose practices were deeply shaped by his influence.
Hacking Histories: Sonified Textiles
11 November 2026 | Craft + Design Canberra
Create an embroidered soft circuit inspired by a memory of early digital technology. Combine stitching, copper tape and sound interaction to explore how personal stories can spark small, creative acts of dissent.
Kaye Pemberton
7 November 2026 | Ceramics
Watch wheel-throwing demonstrations and browse handcrafted bowls, mugs and vases at Kaye Pemberton's backyard studio, featuring her signature porcelain domestic ware.
Textile Transformations: Radical Rugs
9 November 2026 | Craft + Design Canberra
Transform an old t-shirt into a new patch or artwork with a message of protest, resistance or rebellion using traditional rug making techniques.
Pattern Play
14 November 2026 | Ainslie Arts Centre
Discover the infinite possibilities of simple printmaking in this playful workshop. Using recycled materials and reclaimed textiles, you will create your own patterned cloth to take home, a small and wearable act of dissent.
Slow Stitched Talismans: Acts of Gentle Dissent
12 November 2026 | Craft + Design Canberra
In quiet dissent against a world that values speed over stillness, this workshop invites you to explore hand stitching techniques to slowly shape and adorn a talisman made from natural fibres and filled with flowers. Slow stitched talismans honour care, imperfection and the power of handmade objects as vessels of memory and protection.
Dissent: Opposition/Proposition
10 November 2026 | Nangari Street Carpark
Presented by Architectus in partnership with SONA and EmAGN, Dissent: Opposition/Proposition brings together emerging thought leaders from architecture, urban design and adjacent fields to interrogate the role of sanctioned and unsanctioned design in the city and explore how opposition can become a proposition for change.
Moonlight Meanders Night Walks
7 + 14 November 2026 | Canberra City West
In a spirited act of dissent against the boundaries of public space, Localjinni presents two projected night walks through Canberra’s Civic Centre. Led by local artists these saunters reclaim the right to roam and creatively reimagine the city after dark.
Raw and Refined
1 – 11 November 2026 | Canberra Airport
Raw and Refined presents new work by established contemporary jeweller Phoebe Porter, highlighting the origins of the materials she employs and the labour of making. The exhibition celebrates the handmade as an act of creative dissent, challenging consumerism, mass production and conventional notions of value through thoughtful, enduring design.
Tuggeranong Arts Centre Exhibitions
23 October – 12 December 2026 | Tuggeranong Arts Centre
Dissenting the trend of mass manufactured consumer goods, Tuggeranong Arts Centre presents outstanding craft and design in three exhibitions that privilege slow craft to refute disposable consumerism in favour of intergenerational investment in quality crafted and designed objects.
Elena Bozhko Marshall | Strathnairn Arts
7 + 8 November 2026 | Ceramics
Discover Elena Bozhko Marshall's vibrant hand-built ceramics, featuring richly patterned vessels, plates and a playful cast of mythical creature sculptures.
Kirstin Guenther
7 + 8 November 2026 | Mixed Media + Textiles
Browse Kirstin Guenther's light-filled studio for handmade textiles, lampshades and artworks inspired by the natural world, perfect for Christmas gifting.
Julie Bradley + Akie Haga
7 + 8 November 2026 | Glass + Mixed Media
Visit the joint studio of Julie Bradley and Akie Haga, showcasing abstract mixed-media paintings alongside flameworked glass jewellery and sculptural works.
Braddon Mural Magic | A Walk Through Creative Corners
8 November 2026 | Braddon
Discover Braddon’s bold murals on an immersive guided walk exploring how artists use public walls to challenge ideas and spark conversation. Find hidden corners, encounter striking works up close and uncover the stories shaping Canberra’s most eclectic suburb. Braddon Mural Magic invites all ages to see the city as a living, creative gallery.
Dissenting Bodies | Art, Anatomy and Medicine
14 November 2026 | ANU School of Medicine and Psychology
How do we view, hear and learn from the human corpse? Artists and anatomists from the Australian National University School of Medicine come together to explore how art and narrative can protect and preserve the humanity of the human body.
Protest Puppets
6 – 18 November 2026 | Q Gallery
Want to ‘give the finger’ to actions (or inaction) that cause you distress? Sick of responding to issues and concerns with anger or sadness? ‘Radical Joy’ can help you find humour and hope to communicate your concerns.
POWER – The Future is Here
7 November 2026 – 30 January 2027 | Canberra Contemporary
In the spirit of Dissent, Canberra Contemporary presents POWER – The Future is Here by Denis Golding, curated by Kyra Kum-Sing, alongside Tal Fitzpatrick's solo exhibition Quietly Seething: Fate, Fury and Transmutation. Together, these exhibitions interrogate power, resistance and transformation through bold and uncompromising contemporary practice.
Elder Art
6 – 22 November 2026 | Queanbeyan Hive
A powerful act of dissent against the marginalisation of older voices, Elder Art is an exhibition of artworks by older members of the community. Through art and artist talks, the exhibition amplifies these voices, celebrating the richness that a long life and diverse experiences of history can bring to our shared community.